MARK SCHUMANN

Serving as the keynote speaker for the Indian River County Republican Party’s Annual Lincoln Day Dinner Tuesday evening, former congressman and retired Army Lt. Col. Allen West urged his fellow Republicans to claim their party’s heritage as “guardians of the republic.”

Outspoken, candid and frank, West is considered one of the more effective spokespersons for the Tea Party movement. When asked Tuesday evening how to get Republicans to work together, West said, “It’s not about compromise. It’s about leadership.”

West, whose book, “Guardian of the Republic,” co-authored with Michele Hickford, was released this year, said it is the Republican Party that can best ensure the words of Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, continue to ring true through the centuries. “Others who are not guardians of the republic offer a guarantee of happiness. Ours is promise of opportunity,” West said.

From its founding in 1854, the party of Lincoln has always stood as the “guardian of the republic,” West contended. He credited former Senator Everett Dirksen, Republican Illinois, with casting a key vote in support of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

West said that for the Republican Party to prevail in coming national elections it will need to make emotional connections with voters living in inner cities, while emphasizing the importance of education, self-reliance and opportunity. “The essential battle is for the heart. That is where we need to reach people,” West said.

Again referring to “some who are not guardians of the republic,” West accused “the other side” of governing with “lies, deceit, fear, intimidation and coercion.” Speaking off the cuff during question and answer time, West jokingly referred to President Obama, Vice President Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as “the good, the bad and the ugly.”

“We cannot win by being a lesser version of the other side,” West said.

West urged continued support for charter schools, school choice and home schools.  The benefits of a good education, he said, can best be realized in a free market system, not in a system of “crony capitalism.”

“What is conservatism? It is individual freedom and responsibility exercised in a free market system,” West explained.

“The other side,” he said, “stands for liberal, progressive socialism and a secular state.”

“Separation of church and state is not in the Constitution,” West added.

West attributed Russia’s recent annexation of Crimea and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s bold moves on the eastern Ukraine to mixed signals from Washington and recently announced cuts in United States defense spending. “We have put ourselves in a horrible position,” West said.

While representing Florida’s 22^nd Congressional District from 2011-2013, West was a member of the Tea Party Caucus. Following redistricting West moved into the newly formed 18^th Congressional District, covering northern Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie Counties. West lost re-election in a close race against Dem. Patrick Murphy.

During 2012, Sarah Palin suggested West as a potential vice presidential nominee. Conservative commentator, Glenn Beck, mentioned West as a presidential contender.